Relaxation Protocol

Relaxation Protocol means when there is nothing happening Bucky is to relax quietly.

SOMETIMES Bucky just excels at it!

So what we need to teach Bucky is that if we are standing talking to someone, or sitting having a coffee, or shopping and checking out the price of dog treats, Bucky needs to sit quietly and patiently wait. (There might even be a reward treat in it for him!)

This is an important skill for a Guide Dog.

As a real life example: while a Vision Impaired person is waiting for the bus the Guide Dog must wait patiently at the bus stop, but, when the bus arrives the Guide Dog must be ready to work and guide the Vision Impaired person onto the bus and then find them an available seat.

Once safely on the bus, the Guide Dog must sit quietly waiting until they have arrived at their bus stop, where the Guide Dog must work again to safely get the team to their next destination.

Important stuff! Maybe worth..... TWO treats! (Bucky says: "The WHOLE BAG!!!!)


Last week I took Bucky to the library and it was very active and noisy with a few exuberant kids. It was perfect training for Bucky to ignore the commotion.

Quickly the librarian came over and admonished with a terse reminder "Please use your inside voices!!!"

..... THEN she said "Look at the dog, even HE knows to be quiet in the library!"

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)






I think Bucky was showing off.....        ;-)

".... hurry up...."

I was in the grocery store with Bucky and a little boy wanted to pet him. 

But Bucky had his working vest on, so I told the little boy he could not pat Bucky when he had his vest on - he was working - but when his vest comes off he's a regular dog and he can be patted then. 



I had to laugh when the little boy very sweetly said "Can he hurry up and finish his work?"

Happy Birthday Bucky!

Bucky is one year old today.

He has been with us since October 9th and has grown into a very sweet and super good dog.

To celebrate, Bucky has gone to work with John today. Since it is his birthday, Bucky is working in a Supervisory capacity only. No pencil pushing and paper shuffling for Bucky today.

Speaking of bringing home the bacon - now that Bucky is one year old - no more Puppy Chow!

Is that tooth an "incisor", "canine", or "K-9"?

I needed to get that clarified.... so Bucky accompanied me to my dentist appointment.

I wasn't sure how Bucky would react to the sounds, smells, latex gloves and goggles. He's very calm and takes most things in stride, so I was FAIRRRRLY confident he'd be just fine and I wasn't TOOOO worried.

Having said that, it is still ALWAYS a bit stressful taking him into a new situation, especially one that he NEEDS to be a VERY good boy.

But this outing is a bit different, because once I'm sitting in the chair with tools and fingers in my mouth, I can't keep tabs on him or remind him that he needs to be good.

Welllll....... Bucky wasn't too keen on "staying" at first, but once he realized I wasn't going anywhere he settled right in.

So much so, that between naps he enjoyed supervising the birds outside.

Once we were finished I took Bucky's vest off and everyone loved on him for being such a good boy.

All of these exposures will add up to a confident dog that will be able to adjust to any situation that he will encounter in his future career - whatever it may be.

Many thanks to Dr Mike Wong and his staff for welcoming and accommodating Bucky.

P.S. Bucky was very relieved and grateful that no one wanted to get him into a set of braces.

Exposing Ourselves at the Fire Station

Once a month our Houston group of Puppy Raisers participate in an outing. The purpose is to expose the puppies to as many different experiences as possible so that they are comfortable in any situation. It is also an opportunity for our Area Coordinator to see how the puppies are doing and how they react to new situations and distractions.

This month for our group outing we went to a fire station.








We walked around the trucks, checked out hoses, pumps, the EMS stretcher and the firefighters flashed the lights on the trucks - all providing a variety of smells and visual stimulation.


It was very noisy with many strange sounds and beeping noises. Because it was a really hot day they had huge noisy fans running. The firefighters then added to the volume of noises by turning on the sirens. All these things created a variety of new noises and distractions.

I was so impressed - the puppies all carried on - "business as usual"!

The puppies were then exposed to a firefighter in his protective gear. Each puppy was able to walk up to him while he sat in a chair - allowing the puppy to approach at his own pace. The firefighter then got up and walked up to each of the puppies.

Next he put on his breathing apparatus with a mask, oxygen tank and more beeping noises. He then walked around greeting them and offering them treats. Each puppy was more than happy to take a treat from him.

It was very impressive - we have a great group of puppies that took everything in stride. 

I would be remiss if I did not say "Thank you" to the fire station, and, an extra big "Thank you" to our very obliging firefighter - the "Rookie" - who was a great sport to gear up in extremely hot weather just to help us expose our dogs. Many thanks.

John and I are proud of Bucky.

And Bucky was glad we didn't embarrass him.... too much...

Sometimes you just need to ask......

I posted on my Facebook page that I was looking for new exposures for Bucky.

Wellllll................. three days later, Bucky and I stood in front of a room of Grade 1 students. One hundred and twenty five of them!!! Yes, that is correct, 125 of them!!! YIKES!!!! 

To be honest, the thought of 250 eyes, with 6 year old minds, staring at me and eager to learn about Guide Dogs, struck a degree of terror in me. 

For over 30 minutes Bucky and I taught them what a Guide Dog is, the responsibility of their jobs and what the Puppy Raiser needs to teach and expose their puppy to so they are ready to go to Guide Dog College.

I am very happy and proud to say, Bucky and I were a great team! He was quiet, showed them what he knew and was a perfect little angel (except when he put his nose into the garbage can.)

And I didn't embarrass Bucky. (Except when I told them about "BUSY" and "BUSY BUSY".)

At the end, Bucky took off his vest and each child was eager to get a chance to pat him, three times, on the way out. Bucky was a patient dog and enjoyed the attention. 

Our messages to the students:

• Don't pet or distract a Guide Dog when he is working (wearing his harness)
• Concentrate, work hard and GO TO COLLEGE - just like Bucky. 

P.S. Any other exposure suggestions for us?

Counter Surfing ..... with LETTUCE!?!?!?!

Bucky doesn't counter surf at home (much).

Goldens are notorious food thieves and we have learned from our previous dogs not to leave food on the counter - because if we left the room for any length of time, chances are the food would be gone when we returned. So WE have been trained by our previous dogs (did I hear someone mention "The Stomach that Walked like a Dog" named "Dawson", AKA "Dyson"?)

But, if WE are careful and keep food off the counters, it is not that Bucky has LEARNED not to counter surf, its that he has not been given the OPPORTUNITY to counter surf.

The purpose is for Bucky to KNOW he is not to counter surf. So that means we need to change OUR habits so Bucky LEARNS not to counter surf.

After Bucky came home from Puppy Camp, and I heard he stole lettuce off the counter, I figured I'd do some training.

With LETTUCE!?!?!!?

You be the Judge....